To go or not to go? That is the question. Is college worth the cost? Worth the struggle? Will it actually help!?
You’re probably here because the idea of college has gotten you confused. Or, perhaps, you’ve randomly stumbled upon this title and decided to check it out of curiosity.
Either way, college education is a hot topic that deserves immense attention for the following reasons:
- Without education, there is no growth. Without growth, there is no possibility of sustainable life on this planet.
- Nowadays, education is suffering a lot due to the digitalization era, where social channels, Netflix, and memes are way more “interesting” than educational content.
- Colleges, as institutions, are currently under the siege of the biggest contemporary enemy: distractions.
Nevertheless, choosing whether to spend the next few years of your life engaging in the traditional educational system is a very tough yet essential decision.
Some people say that the benefits of not going to college overwhelmingly exceed the disadvantages, while others believe the opposite.
Is college worth the cost? Not just the financial one, because you’re also investing precious time, energy, and attention.
In today’s post, I’ll cover the PROs and CONs of not going to college.
Let’s discuss.
The PROs
Here are the benefits of not going to college:
Being self-taught is always better than being blindly educated
When you don’t have a formal teacher and you are alone, you must become your own teacher. That is an entirely different experience that you get compared to the experience of a student who follows the teacher’s steps.
I used the term “blindly educated” not because I’m a conspiracy guy, but because I’ve experienced the educational traditional system myself and I’ve seen the real problems of the entire thing.
Every one of us is different. If we accept ourselves and aim high, we’ll develop a passion for learning. When we’re taught and tested things and information that we really don’t care about, we would be really sick to tolerate them entirely, leaving our instincts behind.
You’re saving a lot of money that can be spent in much better ways
College education supposes a lot of costs. The college tuition, the food, the dorm room, the parties, the alcohol, the drugs, the girlfriends/boyfriends, and so on and so forth. Not to mention the traveling expenses for students who are studying abroad.
When you skip college, you’re approaching a different kind of education. For the sake of simplicity, let’s call it online education because most of the times you’ll use a digital device to search for information and educational stuff.
Knowledge, skills, and experience versus certifications and status
A student who studies on his own will gain knowledge, skills, and experience, same as the student that gains them through the traditional college education.
However, there’s a big difference in the degree. Usually, students are being pushed to learn while autodidacts are pushing themselves to learn.
As a real-life example, Mike Jefferson, a close friend of mine who has launched probably the best writing service among students, has dropped college after two months of “pain” (his sayings, not mine).
Therefore, in this process of self-stimulation, self-inspiration, and self-organization, the individual who skips college will usually gain higher levels of knowledge, skills, and experience in more than one fields of activity. A broader perspective too, I could say.
An independent mindset allows you to control life instead of allowing life to control you
When you’re in college, your teachers have the authority. Their grades and promotion ability stimulate you to learn information and concepts that you really don’t want. You do because you have to, and that’s really not the way to learn effectively.
Fortunately, when you’re being your own chief, you can control your routine, schedule, and educational process. You can start wherever you want and end up wherever you please. Between the lines, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to make money due to your unique knowledge, experience, and skills.
The CONs
Here are the disadvantages of not pursuing a college education:
You’ll have to work, both hard and smart.
Perhaps this is not really a disadvantage, though it’s worth mentioning because some of you might unconsciously perceive it that way. Don’t do that – work is a key to abundance.
College education is a structured system that allows students to climb the ladder slowly and patiently. However, it is fixed and often irrelevant to many college students’ interests, needs, and plans.
People who choose to say no to college will eventually have to acknowledge that solo-learning involves a lot of work. It involves a lot of organization, time management, discipline, and balance.
Preserving a balanced mental state as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or self-taught student is often the hardest challenge of all!
College can teach you a lot about yourself and about other people
If you were to go to college, you would probably meet a lot of interesting characters. You would be able to learn a lot of new things about how people think and behave. You would be able to practice various “soft” skills like communication, teamwork, and social skills, and would be able to learn useful educational material.
College can also improve your self-awareness, allowing you to see your “dark” and “light” side in different moments. Being surrounded by other students and teachers, leaving home, and adapting to a new environment is definitely a thrilling, exciting, and beneficial experience!
College is full of opportunities that can be fructified
College sets you up with challenges, but in return, it provides great opportunities. There are many extracurricular programs and activities that can put you in front of the right people or in front of the right concepts. When you study abroad, you’ll find different cultures and different mindsets, which will give you the opportunity to understand the larger picture/perspective.
Some events or seminars that are hosted on the campus might give you some good clues about what you want to do in life, and the friends you make, well, many should remain for life.
Some independent, self-taught, no-college people can get stuck and overwhelmed
When you skip college and approach self-education, you are basically on your own, and you need to assume responsibility for it. If the self-educated student becomes imbalanced, he may get himself lost in a big sea of opportunities.
Some people get stuck and overwhelmed by the lack of safety and the fear of the unknown. Perfectionists tend to do it mostly, though it can happen to any self-taught student.
Takeaways
Perhaps, the tone of my voice has already signaled that college education is surely not my forte. Even though I acknowledge its visible advantages in certain instances, I hold my firm belief that becoming an autodidact is the surest way to more experiences and unique growth.
When you follow the system and the forgotten rules of the educational system, you risk getting left behind.
People who use Google every day to ask important questions and learn from each answer are actually showing the proof of traits like proactivity, care, and higher interest in learning more things!
About The Writer: William Steward is a Californian self-taught student who loves to write every day, for various sources and for different purposes. His content publishing experience and his fundamental education concepts allow him to grasp concepts that very few people can. Among his studies, he excels at philosophy, psychology, marketing, and leadership.
